Lieutenant Jack Kessler - You could have just said Sushi please
Joel Cannistraro
((OOC: Set shortly after the Ronin disengages from the Lattice Alliance leviathan and leave Ross 580 system and eventually engages warpdrive on their way back to DS33 with rescued personnel from The Lid, many of whom are now babies and Lt. JG T’Fearne and Lt.Cmdr O’Connor who are reduced to teenagers.))
((CSO’s Office, Security Complex, Deck 11, USS Ronin))
Crossing her arms, she stomped her small foot on the deck plating in his office with a loud bang. Jack stepped around the desk, never losing eye contact with the teenage officer. He stopped in front of her and leaned back, sitting gently on his desk edge to lower his height to a more reasonable level.
T’Fearne: I won’t go! You can’t make me leave the Ronin!
Jack had lost a number of conversational fights with Krystal to know this conversation was going nowhere fast. T'Fearne might be the same person, even have the same knowledge as her normal older self but the teenager standing in front of him was raging with emotions that personally, he'd like to walk away from. She was of Vulcan and Betazoid descent which he suspected was a far more dangerous state for a teenage mind than that of a typical Earth teenager. At least she was not throwing things at him, yet.
Kessler: ::softly but firm:: T'Fearne, I have no desire to see you leave the Ronin. You are and will continue to be my right hand in keeping this place running. ::beat:: If the crew is not giving you the respect you have earned, then prove to them you are you. Just because your ::gesturing to her whole self:: younger, oO don't say smaller. Oo Does not mean that you have lost rank or privileges in this department.
T'Fearne: Are you suggesting that I have to prove myself all over again because the crew can’t see past this? What do you want me to do? Challenge them to a contest of wits, strength…what?
Jack grinned and thought about it for a moment.
Kessler: I would not say that but I still expect you to do your job to the best of your abilities.
T'Fearne: ::sarcastically:: Perhaps I could interrogate someone? Do we have any prisoners or evacuees that need to be questioned? No one is going to take me seriously as an officer like this.
Kessler: So what do you want to do then?
T'Fearne: ::snapping angrily:: I don’t know! I’m tired, alright! And I want coffee…the replicator won’t give me coffee. The computer is broken and just keeps saying that it was a restricted substance. It's just ridiculous. I’ve been drinking coffee for years!
Jack leveled his eyes on the young officer in front of him and grit his teeth together. He had not missed these arguments with Krystal at all and never thought he would be having them with someone on the Ronin. Time to change tactics. Or was she changing them? Jack noted her eyes darting past him to his desk. He knew the desk was fairly spartan, a computer terminal access, a single PADD that lay face down behind him and his coffee mug. Jack never liked clutter or overwhelming his work desk with things that would draw questions. So what was she eyeing? The PADD simply contined the upcoming duty rosters that he had not finalized but they were not restricted. The computer terminal was the same she had access to anywhere so that left the coffee.
Without much warning, she made a swipe across the desk for the cup. Why? Jack had no idea but in the hands of a teenager who was emotionally upset it would have made a great object to throw at him. Krystal had thrown more than one item across a room in her teenage fits of defiance. Jack scrambled with the younger version of T'Fearne for the cup to keep it out of her reach. He really did not want to be dodging flying coffee mugs in his own office.
Jack stood upright and pushed the mug further back on his desk but never took his eyes off T'Fearne. Was that reaction her Vulcan side letting loose or her Betazoid side?
Kessler: ::slightly firmer tone and raised:: What are you doing T'Fearne?
T’Fearne froze, blinking wide eyed. Jack paused and thought about what was racing through her mind. She was probably as shocked at what she had just tried to do as he was. She reached for the guest chair in Kessler's office, T’Fearne slumped down into it, tucking one leg up while the other dangled. She rested her head in her hands for a solid moment before dragging her face back to meet his gaze. Jack was trying to keep calm and navigate this situation the best he could. He reminded himself over and over again that she was in an unusual circumstance and this was not just a teenager now sitting in front of him.
T'Fearne: I…I’m sorry. ::sounding slightly strangled:: I am not myself right now, no matter how much I want to be. Ian was right. oO For once Oo He asked me if I was managing ok with the side effects. I was managing fine in the heat of the conflict, but now that things have calmed down, it’s harder to think like…like an adult. ::admitting frankly:: It’s exhausting actually.
oO Exhausting is an understatement kid. Oo Jack leaned back on his desk again, side eyeing the coffee mug just to make sure he knew where the thing was. He took a longer than usual pause for the situation they both were in and then folded his arms across his chest.
Kessler: Honestly T'Fearne, I am not sure what to do right now. I certainly don't want you to leave and I do not want to revoke any duties you have unless we have to.
T'Fearne: I’m a starfleet officer, my duty is the most important thing to me, but some other things seem very important right now…like…like ::sighing:: For the last few hours I’ve been getting very hungry, I want sushi… and coffee. I want to hit something on the holodeck with my akai sticks, I want to play my drums at maximum volume and ::honestly:: I think I need a nap. ::the leg dangling off the chair began to swing in a circle as she sighed deeply:: perhaps I do need to be relieved of duty until this…this can be fixed. Do you think it can be reversed or will I have to grow up again?
Jack grinned and stood up, letting his arms drop to his side.
Kessler: That I can help with. Come with me.
He really did not wait for her to respond before he was stepping passed her and towards the door.
Kessler: Let's go T'Fearne.
Jack paused long enough to turn and see her getting to her feet. The expression on her face was either a somewhat confused one or she was rolling off some Vulcan or Betazoid colorful phrases at him mentally.
T'Fearne: response
Kessler: To let off some frustration.
He led the two of them out of the Security complex and down the corridor until they reached a turbolift. As they stepped in Jack stepped to one side, clasping his hands in front of him and facing T'Fearne. She was looking physically about the same age as Krystal, maybe a year or two older. Mentally he knew she had all her cognitive memories still intact but that did not change the emotional chaos she was dealing with internally.
Kessler: Deck Four.
The lift started moving and Jack thought about asking her a question but then decided to let the silence remain. Let her think about whatever it was she was thinking about. He observed her hair seemed to have a few more curls to it as a younger version of herself. Her eye's had not changed, they were still obsidian black. He tried to envision who T'Fearne was as teenager as she is now. Had she been a rebellious kid or one who walked the straight line? Had she been a fighter all her life or was this newer in her adult life? There was so much he did not know about his junior officer but at the same time there was much she did not know about him.
The turbolift doors opened and Jack again took the lead, heading down the corridor, then taking one turn before another and then finally stopping in front of a Holo-Suit door.
T'Fearne: response
Kessler: As I said, to let off some frustration.
He keyed in a sequence onto the external control panel and the Holo-Suite doors whooshed open. He stepped in allowing her to follow him. As the doors closed behind them he paused to allow her to take in the sight of what lay ahead.
T'Fearne: response
((Holo-Suite 03, Deck 04, USS Ronin))
The scene that lay before them was one of Jack's favorite training programs. D'Rakan City was not a glamorous city by any means. In fact what stood ahead of them was a run down, burned down waste land of a city. Trash littered the streets. Merchant shops had been broken into and vandalized by the local gangs. Fires burned in trash containers to help heat the homeless who scattered at the signs of movement for fear of their own lives.
The street was one narrow and long hazard. Plenty of spaces for hostiles to attack from and plenty of debris to be used as a weapon or used against you. At the far end of the street was one dimly lit structure. A flickering neon sign flashed the name of the operation above it. The name barely legible read, "Zushi Barangaroo".
Kessler: You want sushi. You'll have to get there to have it. This is a level 6 Security training program I designed. Any hostile you encounter can be any species from the Starfleet database. The computer chooses randomly and it keeps changing who and what you encounter so that you have to adapt on the spot to different tactics. Akai sticks can be added if you want them.
T'Fearne: response
[Tags / TBC]